Burning Darkness
by Angel of Apathy
Summary: A woman with impossible powers raised -but not born -on Earth meets the Doctor and her life changes forever. Story is better than summary, I promise! Should turn into something longer if people like it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: if I owned Doctor Who, do you really think I'd be posting here

_Disclaimer: if I owned Doctor Who, do you really think I'd be posting here?_

_Kerralie is mine, but other people can borrow her as long as they don't kill her. This is my first story so please be nice. For this story, imagine most main storyline events have happened, but personal things like the Doctor and Rose haven't. I do love Rose, but felt like doing something different to the usual reunion. Jack should turn up fairly soon, just 'cos I love him and he makes humour so much easier._

**Burning Darkness**

Chapter One

It was when she looked in the mirror she noticed the difference. Her eyes, which she had managed to keep brown for years now, had reverted to their original yellow-gold. The thin, white scar along her cheekbone was glowing slightly. That was to be expected. If the power was strong enough to make her eyes start then the scar would definitely start as well. Damn, that was annoying. It took effort to change her appearance. Concentrating, Kerralie closed her eyes, and then opened them. It didn't look like much, but her eyes were now resolutely brown. The scar still showed, white against her skin which looked permanently tanned. Hmm, she thought, fat chance of getting a tan in this miserable country. With her light brown skin and long, slightly curly black hair, she looked Spanish. This was unlikely, given that she was fairly certain she didn't come from Earth. Sadly, there was no proof of this- or anything to do with where she had come from- since she was adopted. But Kerralie knew she was right. It had started 17 years ago, when she was 7 years old.

People called it daydreams when she told them, but Kerralie knew, even though she was young. She could make…_things _happen. Golden light flowed from her, and she could see things that weren't there. Not as in hallucinations, but like possible timelines, futures and pasts that might be. Oh, and the two heartbeats were a clue too. Just a small one. She'd known for years, of course, but when she was 7 the possible consequences of her power became obvious. She had been experimenting with it in the woods behind the house, and it went wrong. A searing bolt of power, glowing bright white-gold, got loose from her control and streaked across her cheek, burning with cold fire. She'd learned then not to muck about, and by the time she was 24 she had stopped using the power. It scared her a little, with a feeling that using it would corrupt her. So the power 'symptoms' of glowing eyes and scar hadn't happened for years. Until that day, when they started without warning and her life changed forever.

Kerralie was working as a journalist. She'd trained as a psychiatrist, but she didn't want to do that anymore, so had turned her talent to writing. She liked it better, and it meant she could hang around in her favourite café, drinking cappuccinos, and calling it work. That was where she was now, tapping at her laptop. She glanced around, hoping for inspiration to cure her writers' block. There was a man sitting on the other side of the café. He had spiky brown hair and even from here Kerralie could tell his eyes were dark and impossibly old for his face. He looked up and caught her eye. Despite herself, she felt her eyes change, just for a second, to gold. She looked away quickly, praying he hadn't seen. No such luck. He got up and walked over to her table. Damn, damn, damn, she thought. There is _no_ logical explanation for eyes that change colour. Damn.

He sat down opposite her.

"Working hard?" he asked, indicating her laptop.

"Yeah. I've got a report due Thursday and I have _no _idea what to write about."

"What about all those alien things happening recently? You look like you know a lot about aliens."

_Damn, _Kerralie thought. "Why do you say that?" she asked, trying to act less panicked than she was.

"Oh, no reason. You just look like the kind of person who'd be interested in alien activity. And you also look like you'd know a lot, given the gold eyes and what looks like a power burn on your cheek."

Double damn. How can I explain _this _one, Kerralie wondered.

The Doctor saw the shock in the young woman's eyes, and something else. It took him a few seconds to realise it was fear. Why is she afraid, he wondered. She can't be afraid of _me_ can she? Then it hit him: he could be anyone, a government spy or something, and she was afraid that she had been found out. He'd dealt with many aliens, but none had been that scared of being caught. That said, most of them had been crazy and homicidal, so it was probably not a fair comparison. He'd picked up the strong telepathic field of this woman from across the street, and followed her to the café.

"Don't look that scared, "he said. "I'm not here to catch you out."

His voice appeared to spark her back into life. She glanced up at the people sitting around them.

"Not here," she said. "It's too public. We can talk better at my house."

She got up and led the way out of the café and then set off down the street. The Doctor shrugged, and set off after her.

Kerralie was having a silent argument with herself.

**Idiot, **said her common sense. **You just invited a ****complete ****stranger back to your house.**

Yes, said what was normally her conscience. He could be a homicidal murderer for all you know.

You are an idiot sometimes, agreed the voice of the Power.

Shut up, all of you. You're supposed to be on _my_ side. Anyway, I can see why Common Sense is talking, but what do the rest of you have to do with this?

We're part of you. We have everything to do with this.

Yes. Stop arguing with the truth.

They're right, you know

Yes. Listen to them.

How many people are in my head, she wondered. And who are you two? You haven't spoken up before.

Hindsight

Second thoughts.

Then she realised she was at her door, and the man who had introduced himself as The Doctor was talking to her.

"I'm sorry, what have you been saying? I was having a bit of an inner… discussion." She admitted.

"That's OK, happens to me all the time. How much did you miss?"

"Most stuff since 'I'm The Doctor, who are you?' "

"It'll crop up again. This your house?"

Kerralie would have answered yes, but at that very moment an enormous earthquake made the entire road sway dangerously, and everyone fell over. Which was odd, considering they were in Cardiff.

"What the _hell_ was that??" Kerralie half-yelled, scrambling to her feet.

"If I said an earthquake, would you be angry?"

Anyone know, Kerralie thought to the general population of her head.

**Don't know,**

No idea,

Don't ask me,

Shrug,

How should we know? As we said before, we're part of you. If you don't know, neither do we.

Fat lot of good you lot are. Back to reality.

"Cardiff's not on some unknown fault line is it?"

"Sort of. It's on a space/time rift."

"Right, and could that cause this?"

"You don't want to know what a space/time rift is? And to answer your question, yes it could. Oh, if Torchwood's been messing around with the rift again Jack is so going to pay."

"Slow down, slow down. Who is jack, what is Torchwood and what the hell is going on?"

"I think we need to go somewhere a bit safer in case there's another tremor. I parked round the corner."

"You're not talking about a car, are you?"

"Not even close. This is travel like no other."

"Great," said Kerralie with a weak smile.

_So, a start. Please review, and if people think this is good I'll post some more soon. I promise, the story gets more exciting, but the intro stuff is needed so you know what the hell I'm on about when everyone starts running and panicking. But I don't want to spoil it for you…_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two, coming up

_Chapter Two, coming up. We get to find out more about Kerralie, and yes, it is significant that in Chapter One I said Kerralie had two hearts. And YAY Cap'n Jack is back (sort of) in business in this chapter. I've missed him._

Chapter Two

The small blue box looked innocent, which meant that Kerralie immediately didn't trust it. Any inanimate object that looks innocent is usually plotting something. And this was the reason she hesitated before going through the doors of what the mysterious Doctor called a 'TARDIS', whatever _that _was. When she stepped through, though, she trusted it completely. The comforting psychic presence soothed her, and then she noticed the obvious thing.

"Wow, that's clever," Kerralie observed.

"Go ahead, say it," said the Doctor. "Everyone does."

"Say what? That the inside's bigger than the outside? Isn't that a little obvious?"

"Thank you! That's what I try to tell everyone, but nearly every person who's been in here has said-" he stopped suddenly, appearing to be listening to something. "Kerralie, what planet are you from?" he said it casually, too casually. Kerralie had tried not to eavesdrop, but she'd heard some of the exchange between the living ship and the Doctor. She knew the timeship was excited about something, and the Doctor was trying to find out more before accepting what the ship was saying.

"I don't know," she answered. "Not Earth, but I was adopted on Earth so I have no clue where."

"Hmmm. Can I try something?"

"Sure. Do _you_ know where I'm from?"

"I'm trying to find out. Can I listen to your heartbeat? I'm not crazy, this could be relevant."

She let him listen through the stethoscope to her heartbeats, first the left, then the right.

"Kerralie, do you know you have two hearts?"

"Yes. That's part of the reason I know I'm not from Earth."

"Kerralie, have you heard of a planet called Gallifrey?"

"No. should I have?"

"Yes. I have a strong feeling that's where you're from. And if I'm right, that's quite important."

He'd just finished explaining when the next tremor hit. Kerralie was already shaken to learn she was part of a nearly extinct race, and this Doctor was the only other member of her species still alive, and she was caught unawares by the sudden movement. She half-fell against the console and was greeted with the strangest sensation of falling into liquid silver. She snatched her hands off and returned to the real world with a bump. Whoa, she thought, anyone else get that?

**That was weird! **Came from Common Sense

Tell me about it, agreed Conscience

_It's like having more of me in here, _commented Power

BIZARRE, agreed Hindsight

_**In my opinion, the timeship is psychic like us,**_chimed in Second Thoughts

Helpful, thought Kerralie. I think I'm going mad.

"Was it just me, or was that quake worse than the last one?" she asked the Doctor.

He nodded. "They're getting worse. We need to visit Jack."

"Who _is_ Jack?"

"An old friend," he said, grinning.

TARDIS flight was strange, not least because Kerralie could hear the timeship's thoughts.

"_Are you eavesdropping, Bright One?" _the voice was kind, and Kerralie realised it was the TARDIS speaking in her mind.

Sorry, I can't help it.

Don't pry, 

_I can't help it!_

_**Poking around in the mind of a powerful time machine is probably not a good idea,**_

"_You're different to him. So much more electric. That is trained out of Time Lords when they are young. But of course you haven't. It's nice to have a true Time Lady in me again. Time was, many people were like you. So long ago, now."_

Kerralie would have stayed and chatted, but at that moment the landed and the Doctor headed for the door. She said goodbye to the TARDIS and hurried after him. She caught up outside, where she found a tall, dark and very handsome man talking to him. She guessed- correctly- that this was Jack, and immediately she felt what was different about him: he had immortality.

"Hello, who is this?" he asked, with an American accent and a look of 'flirt with anything' which Kerralie had seen before and knew enough not to be fooled by.

"I'm Kerralie," she said, smiling nicely but not flirtatiously.

"Don't try it," warned the Doctor.

"Try what? Why do you always tell me not to try things?" asked Jack in a mock-hurt tone.

"I'd love to go through all this again, but we've got more important things to worry about. You haven't been causing these earthquakes, have you?"

"Nope. I was hoping you'd know what's going on."

"No such luck. Oh, and I picked up Kerralie here on the way through. She's from Gallifrey too, but she's untrained so very different."

Jack looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't get a chance, because Kerralie suddenly spoke up; surprising them both.

"_I_ know what's going on,"

"How's that? If the Doctor doesn't know then surely you shouldn't." jack pointed out.

"TARDIS told me. She knows what I should be able to do, and she helped me see what's happening. The timelines are getting distorted as the Rift power fluctuates, and one of them has fractured, setting off the earthquakes."

"Can you fix it?" asked the Doctor.

"Ah. That's the catch. No, I don't think so, and it needs to be fixed before it destroys half the universe."

"Great."

Actually, this wasn't strictly true. Kerralie was sure she could fix it, but in doing so she would probably cause more trouble by not knowing what she was doing. Sadly, once again her mind was in disagreement:

**Don't do it.**

Do it. You owe it to them.

_I don't think I can. I'm not that powerful._

ASK THE TIMESHIP ABOUT IT, OR THERE COULD BE TROUBLE.

_**Don't do anything until you're sure.**_

Gotcha. I'm going with the majority: do nothing until later.

Selfish.

**Don't sulk, Conscience. That won't help.**

_I don't know why anyone expects me to do anything._

I THINK WE SHOULD SPEAK TO THE TIMESHIP NOW. DON'T IGNORE ME!

_**Stop squabbling! That won't help! Don't listen to them, but you should ask the timeship. She'll help, even if we can't do anything.**_

Good advice.

_**Thanks.**_

I'm definitely insane. Ah, well. No point worrying about it if there's nothing I can do right now. Toodles for now, girls.

**Bye**

Cheerio

_Ta-ta for now_

SEE YA!

_**Au revoir, my other self.**_

Kerralie shook her head, and paid attention to the conversation between Jack and the Doctor. It was filled with technical jargon, but when she had sifted this out she understood that they had no idea what to do either, and were doing the thing all men do when they have no clue, and making it up as they went along. She shook her head again, and headed off into the TARDIS to ask advice on how to deal with conflicting inner voices and fractured timelines.

_Getting to the fun part now! Again, read & review please, if no one likes then I won't write._


	3. Chapter 3

Next chapter… thanks for the review welshdragon, my mind is what I based Kerralie on so I'm crazy too

_Next chapter… thanks for the review welshdragon, my mind is what I based Kerralie on so I'm crazy too. In this chapter the story title becomes more relevant (ish) and the plot takes an unexpected twist… unless you're psychic, which means it won't be unexpected at all. But then, if you're psychic, not much is unexpected. Shut up brain. Again, please read & review._

Chapter Three

Kerralie, the Doctor, Jack and the TARDIS (using Kerralie as a translator) met to hold a council of war. Only it wasn't, because the Doctor wanted no fighting. Jack said it was a war whether they liked it or not and this meant that war council or not it turned into a giant argument, the TARDIS decided that the argument was below her consideration and started humming, and Kerralie came up with a way to solve the problem but couldn't get a word in edgeways because of Jack and the Doctor squabbling. In fact, she probably would have had to have resorted to hitting them if the TARDIS hadn't chimed in her mind

"_Bright One, another timeline has fractured. Tell them, or the timeflow will be disrupted even more and the universe will implode,"_

Will it really?

"_Yes,"_

Oh, dear.

"Will you two stop fighting for one second so we can solve this problem!"

Both Jack and the Doctor looked a little shocked. After all, they had only just met Kerralie and couldn't know she was quite probably mad, with a deadly temper.

"We have more things to worry about than fighting or not. TARDIS just told me that another timeline's fractured."

"Damn," said Jack.

"Quite," agreed Kerralie.

"What do you suggest we do, seeing as you said you can't fix it?" asked the Doctor.

"I said I didn't _think_ I could fix it, not that I definitely couldn't fix it. And the TARDIS says I should, theoretically, be able to do it if I train before hand."

"We don't have _time_ to train you. The timelines are fracturing _now_!" the Doctor pointed out.

"I know. This means I have to do it untrained."

"And the catch is?" asked Jack, catching the tone of her voice.

"Ah, yes. The catch. There is a small chance that if it goes wrong I could end up slightly frying someone."

"Someone, like yourself?" The Doctor had noticed what she wasn't saying

"Um, yes. BUT, before you yell or something, it makes sense for me to do this."

The Doctor looked sceptical.

"Look, I'll prove it," said Kerralie. She'd prepared for this. She was better at reading people than anyone could guess- probably because she was psychic- and she had noticed from the moment she met him that the Doctor was someone who didn't like death, and would try to stop it at any cost. "Firstly, I probably won't kill myself, that's just a worst-case scenario; secondly, I'd rather it was me than an entire universe if you catch my drift; and thirdly, if I want to do it then you can't stop me."

"Ooh, touché. She's got you there, Doctor, you have to admit." Jack appeared to be enjoying this hugely. Kerralie got the feeling that Jack did what the Doctor said and was enjoying watching someone stand up to him. Kerralie knew they didn't have time to argue, so she pulled herself up to her full height- which wasn't much compared to the Doctor, but never mind-, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Shall we get started?

……………………

They stood in the rain in Cardiff's centre. Jack had got Torchwood to clear the area, and it was deserted. Kerralie had been in a long conversation with the TARDIS to get the details of what to do, and was now ready… ish. She pushed the wet hair out of her eyes, took a deep breath, and dived into the other place, the one inside her where she could see the timelines stretching out, in front and behind like sparkling roads. The fractured timelines were obvious, glittering shards everywhere like a smashed mirror. She concentrated, sending the power shimmering out to the broken timestrands. The emptiness surrounding the strands was lit by blazing light. Darkness burned. The strands began to fix, making clinking sounds as the splinters rejoined. Kerralie was struggling to keep the power flowing. She had never used this much power, and she was aware how much was riding on this. The final pieces linked back into place, and just before the power died she heard a voice, twisted with hate and evil, hissing in her mind:

"_I WILL FIND YOU, AND WE WILL BURN!"_

The shock was too much for her, already weakened with exhaustion from using the power, and unconsciousness came as welcome relief, as the blackness claimed her.

…………………

She recognised the warmth and presence of the TARDIS before she opened her eyes. When she did open them, she saw Jack and the Doctor watching her.

"Are you all right?" asked the Doctor, with a concerned look that was impressive- after all, he barely knew her.

"When you collapsed like that we thought your worst-case scenario had happened," agreed Jack.

"I'm fine, really. Just a bit exhausted from using up all my power fixing timestrands."

"Did you? Fix it, I mean," asked Jack, who felt that there was a time and place for politeness and this wasn't it.

"Hang on a sec, let me check." Kerralie closed her eyes and went to the timestreams. They were all intact and humming with the mysterious energy of time. It was then that she remembered the malevolent voice in her head. Hmm, she thought, anyone get who that was?

There was a sort of group shrug (not a real shrug, of course, since they were all parts of her mind that had gone a bit renegade and started thinking for themselves, but a metaphorical shrug).

Great, Kerralie thought, another voice in my head I have to sort out. Maybe I should mention this to the Doctor. See what he thinks.

………………………..

He was surprisingly interested. Most people would have laughed and told her not to be silly, but he listened, and she found herself trusting him enough to explain the other voices in her head. That had made him smile. Then he asked something she wasn't expecting at all.

"Can I check out your mind a little?"

"You can do that?"

"Yes. One of the few powers that didn't completely trained out."

"Well, sure, if you think it will help."

He rested his fingertips gently against her temples, and entered her mind. He stopped almost as soon as he had entered. It was beautiful, a sea of molten gold light.

_You know the drill people: r&r. more coming soon!_


	4. Chapter 4

Here it is… Chapter Four

_Here it is… Chapter Four. Voices in heads are becoming a real problem for poor Kerralie. And the real reason I want reviews is my cybercat, Dave, is fed on reviews and if he doesn't get them he threatens to eat my story documents. So, help me feed him or he will make sure I never write again. Now, on with the show… er, story, I mean_

Chapter Four

As the Doctor hesitated on the edge of Kerralie's mind, the gold liquid flowed up into several shapes. As they solidified he saw they were all Kerralie, but slightly different. One was shining all over, one was dreamy-looking, one was very serious, one kept looking around and the other one was watching him carefully with a kind of knowing look on her face. There was a kind of sigh from all around him and Kerralie's voice said, I thought I told you all to stay out of the way!

"Kerralie, why can I see five of you?" asked the Doctor.

They're parts of my mind which went renegade. Say hello, girls.

**Hi, **said the serious one.

Hello, said the dreamy one

_Nice to meet you, _said the one that was shimmering

HOW ARE YOU? Asked the one who kept looking around

_**Yes, hello, **_said the knowing one.

I'm really not crazy. It just seems that way to, well, everyone.

"Where's this voice thing then?"

Which one? I'm only kidding. This way.

The liquid light parted to form a sort of road, leading into another part of Kerralie's ocean, and he headed off along it, followed by the Kerralies, who didn't want to miss a thing.

……………………..

The Doctor was trying to trace where the voice had come from, when something completely unexpected happened. There was a rush of black light, engulfing Kerralie's mind, the voice boomed again: '_I HAVE FOUND YOU!'_ and the Doctor was ejected suddenly, crashing back into his body, which was surprisingly painful for something that didn't happen in the physical world at all. He raised his head slowly, a headache sizzling through him. Kerralie was on her knees, but as she looked up it was obvious what was wrong. Her eyes were no longed gold. They were completely black, with no iris, pupils or whites. She looked at him, met his eyes, and the blackness seared into him, like blazing ice.

"Kerralie? Are you OK?"

When she spoke, her voice was a menacing hiss.

"I am not Kerralie. _I am Kay."_

……………………..

Kay was walking around the console in the TARDIS, sometimes trailing her fingers over the instruments. The Doctor could hear the TARDIS calling out, trying to reach Kerralie, but Kay was ignoring her pleas. The Doctor was planning. If he could get near enough to the console he could fly them back to Cardiff and get Jack's help. But Kay was having none of it. She looked up at him, and said, "You won't." She summoned the power easily, and pressed him firmly into one of the support beams, trapping him there. Then she turned back to the controls.

………………………….

Kerralie was trapped inside her own mind. When the black wave had swept in, it had formed a sort of cage around her. She wasn't alone. In the cage were all the separate parts of her mind. They were all trying to think of a way out, and they were all failing miserably. Kerralie was trying to listen in on Kay's thoughts, to find out what she was planning to do. And so it was Kerralie who knew first that Kay was flying to Cardiff of her own accord and Kerralie knew exactly why.

……………………….

The power which held the Doctor against the support beam was starting to hurt a little. It wasn't crushing, but it was very strong, and impossible to escape from. Kay had put the TARDIS in flight, and now they had landed he risked speaking up.

"Where are we?"

Kay smiled a very scary smile, the kind that makes you think of madmen.

"We're in Cardiff. It was your idea that made me think of this. You see the timeship is refusing to travel through time for me, so I will have to find another way. The rift will do nicely. And now I have the power of time from this girl, I can split it open."

The problem with splitting open the rift is that if it's not done correctly, it can implode the universe- a bit like timelines fracturing. And Kerralie, watching and listening from inside, knew that Kay didn't know how to do it properly, and so would end up killing most of the universe, if not all of it. She tried to free herself from the cage, but it was no use. She would have to watch as the universe was destroyed by her power.

…………………….

This being Cardiff, Jack had noticed the TARDIS landing and was wondering where everyone was. Normally the Doctor would have emerged from it by now. So he walked over to it, fished out his key, went inside and was pinned rather unceremoniously into the wall. He saw Kay's black eyes and the Doctor also pinned up against a support beam and realised he had just walked into a very bad situation.

……………………..

Kerralie was trying everything. She could feel the power being drained as Kay summoned it to open the rift. And from somewhere inside her, an idea suddenly formed.

This is _my_ mind, and_ I_ control it.

The power grew as Kay drew more out.

All those people. _No._

She looked at the walls around her, and suddenly they weren't there. The black tide turned gold as she stepped forward. And Kay's voice shouted. _NO! _as Kerralie called back the power that had been building and sent it all searing into Kay.

……………………….

All Jack and the Doctor knew was that the power holding them had suddenly stopped, and Kay had fallen to her knees holding her temples. They glanced at each other and went to her. She was whimpering, rocking backwards and forwards. Then suddenly she looked up, opened her eyes, and they were bright, glowing gold all over. Then the light faded, but her eyes were normal, with the gold cat-eye look she had had before.

"Are you OK?" asked the Doctor, as he and Jack helped her up.

"Fine, thanks. Apart from the possession, I'm great. I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

"No, though the power was a little crushing," said Jack with typical tact.

"Now all we have to do is sort out whoever did this," said the Doctor, and Kerralie got the feeling that she was far from finished with Kay.

_Nearly done. Probably got about a chapter left. You know what comes next: reviewing. Gotta feed Dave. On a completely unconnected note, does anyone know what a chibi is? Loads of people write about them and I have no clue. If you know, post it as part of the review which you ARE going to write, aren't you?_

_Meeowmew! _/\ /\

_ '' (this means 'feed me' in cybercat.)_


	5. Chapter 5

This will be the last chapter in this story, but I'll probably write more with Kerralie

_This will be the last chapter in this story, but I'll probably write more with Kerralie. This is kind of a finishing off chapter, with less drama._

Chapter Five

Kerralie was alone in a large room of the TARDIS. She was surrounded by an aura of golden light. She focused her mind, and changed. She shimmered into the form of a cat, with black fur and gold eyes. Then she shimmered into a wolf, long black fur bristling along her back. She shifted back into herself, and set about trying to trace the signal which had overpowered her mind. It was no use. She couldn't find where it had come from. She sighed again, and went to get help from the Doctor, and possibly Jack too, since he was still hanging around for some reason.

………………..

"OK, I think the signal should be fairly easy to trace. There's some imprint of the mind left in yours so if I link you up with the TARDIS we can get a location for it. Now, sit still."

Kerralie obediently sat as the Doctor buzzed at her temples with a sort of silver pen with a blue light at one end. He explained what he was doing, and Kerralie and Jack sat and pretended to listen politely.

"OK, just going to patch in the TARDIS now. This is a sonic screwdriver, by the way."

"I'm not a shelf, Doctor."

"Jack, don't even try making the obvious joke."

"What? Why do you always say stuff like that to me?"

"Ah-ha! Got it!"

"What obvious joke?" asked Kerralie.

"You don't want to know. OK, you can move know. Got the location of our mind-possessor."

The Doctor set the TARDIS in motion before turning to Kerralie.

"Are you going to be OK with this?" he asked gently.

"I think so, yeah."

"At least you'll have us two to back you up," said Jack. "And if everything goes wrong you can use me as an immortal shield."

"You just can't stop saying that, can you?" Kerralie commented. "It's not _that _good a pick-up line!"

The TARDIS stopped and Kerralie glanced at the doors. There was no backing out now.

……………………….

The small house was surprisingly normal. And disturbingly like Kerralie's home. And very, very quiet. More than quiet, it was lifeless. And Kerralie knew why. In a way, she had known from when she had sent that blazing spiral of power into the mind that had been controlling her. Kay had not been rejected. Kay had been killed. As the three of them went into the living room Kerralie saw what she had been dreading but expecting. It was worse than she had imagined. The woman lying on the floor resembled Kerralie a little, with long dark hair, but she had been burned from the inside. Kerralie heard the scream before she realised it was coming from her. She staggered back, into the hallway. She pulled open the door and ran out into the night. Probably Jack and the Doctor tried to follow her, but she could run very fast, and had been living two streets away for the past eight years, so she knew exactly where she was going. Jack would know his way around but Kerralie was going somewhere only she knew about.

…………………….

Jack and the Doctor _had_ tried to follow to follow her, but she had got away. So they had gone back to the TARDIS where the Doctor was now trying to reverse the tracker to find Kerralie. Jack was checking the monitor. The map of Cardiff appeared on the screen.

"Oh, no," he said as he recognised where the dot marking Kerralie was going. "She's heading for the docks.

…………………

Kerralie really was heading for the docks. It was the kind of place that everyone said not to go to, especially after dark, like it was now. So Kerralie, being one of the people that the expression 'curiosity killed the cat' was designed for, had gone there one night. There was nothing scary or special, but she'd found a separate part that could only be reached by wading through a little bit of shallow water. Kerralie shape-shifted into a horse to do the wading. She then pulled herself onto the isolated stretch of concrete and leaned against the slightly damp wall to think. She had killed someone. She knew Jack and Torchwood, which he had told her about, would cover the whole thing up for her, but that didn't take away the blame. It was self-defence, but it was still killing. From that moment, she resolved to never use her full power. She picked up a handful of pebbles from the ground and made them glow with her fire. She threw them into the water one by one, watching the gold fade in the inky blackness. She was still standing, looking into the water, when the TARDIS arrived and Jack and the Doctor burst out and dragged her away from the edge. She blinked, as she hadn't realised she was standing that close. She felt numb, and it took her a while to realise they were speaking to her. When she realised they were yelling about how she shouldn't be doing this, she relaxed her struggling and let them pull her into the TARDIS. They pushed her inside, and she retreated into herself, shutting out their voices and the TARDIS's mind. She felt exhaustion overwhelm her, are realised that she probably hadn't slept for about two days. Time travelling was confusing. She swayed slightly, and as she collapsed she felt Jack and the Doctor catch her and lower her to the floor.

……………………

Kerralie came round slowly, and found she was in another room of the TARDIS that was a lot like a sparsely-furnished bedroom. She got up, stretched, and made her way to the control room, somehow managing to not get lost more than twice. In the control room were Jack and the Doctor, deep in discussion which Kerralie suspected was about her. To check this, she shifted into being unseen. It wasn't invisibility, but just hiding. If she stood in bright light or moved quickly she would be completely visible, but moving stealthily through the shadows. She was right.

"She didn't seem to know what she was doing," said Jack.

"Trauma can do that to people, Jack. They just shut down completely when everything overloads."

OK, thought Kerralie, so they don't think I'm completely crazy. That's good. Think I'll stop hiding now.

She let them see her. They looked sympathetic, and Jack asked,

"You OK?"

She nodded. "I'm alright now, thanks."

"Would you like to go travelling to cheer yourself up a bit?" asked the Doctor.

"I'd like that, yeah."

"Jack, what about you?"

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Off we go then! How does the most beautiful planet ever sound?"

"It sound amazing," said Kerralie, and she smiled. It was like dawn after a long night. The Doctor adjusted a few instruments, and they plunged into the vortex.

_So, there it is, all done. the next Kerralie story will be called Illusions and will be up as soon as i can be bothered to write it. So, final reviews please!_


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